Packed into a few sentences Paul manages to give 7 treasured finds of what he believes God wants for our lives.
How should I live? It is in these 7 points.
They are straight to the point, no in-depth explanation and certainly no negotiation.
Here they all are:-
- Rejoice always.
- Pray continually.
- Give thanks in all circumstances.
- Do not quench the Spirit.
- Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all.
- Hold on to what is good.
- Reject every kind of evil, (1 Thessalonians 5 v 22)
Half-way through my tenure as a Pastor I received a letter from a member. It was this, ‘The Lord would say you should leave the church’. It didn’t give me any more instructions than that. Presumably the Lord wasn’t too bothered on what happened next so long as I left the church. He also helpfully provided the name of the person who would take my place! It was someone loved by the person giving me the prophecy. I called the member to acknowledge the letter and I was then given further instructions ‘not to shoot the messenger’. I obviously didn’t shoot the messenger but I did tear up the message because it fell within the instruction of verse 22.
Discernment is needed. There are times obviously when God does tell people to move on from a Church. But in the testing of how this was done, the context of bringing in another to replace me and because it came from a troubled member at the time I rejected it as an evil.
I have had to learn the hard way with testing and discerning God’s voice. We all do. There are times when God speaks and it is for our protection. Remember Agabus bringing God’s message about a severe famine in Acts 11? The famine happened during the reign of Emperor Claudius. It takes courage to bring such a ‘negative’ word.
Around 7 years before my message to leave the church we were in a wonderful move of God in the church. It was the last Sunday of January 2000 and I was facing a packed congregation during the evening service. They had come to see a special event from a para-church organisation led by a man who had recently joined our church with a ministry that reached out to the vulnerable of society. I had not seen the church so excited for a long time. Even the usual negative people were ultra-positive! God was with the church and leading us into a whole new season. It was all I could have hoped for.
Then I began to receive a message from God during the last song:
“I believe the Lord is saying that this relationship is like an engagement, tonight is that engagement but it is going to get better for it is leading to a marriage.” However, that is not what the Lord gave me to say. I changed it. I had kept the singing going for longer, for I was battling with the actual word that was given me, a repeated verse of the song may give me time for clarity. If members only knew that they have sung so many extra songs because the Pastor was just trying to work out what to do!
You see the actual word was: “I believe the Lord is saying that this relationship is like a marriage, tonight is the wedding but it is not going to last for it is leading to a divorce.” But I was surely wrong. The signs all around would indicate this was God. He was moving in the church. So I changed it. I could not give such a negative word. I truly believed God wouldn’t give such a word, it must be me. I was making this up. A prophetic word is for edifying and encouraging, right? What I didn’t realise is not every message is for sharing publicly.
I got home that night and after repenting and with tears I promised God I would never change a message He gave me ever again. If He would be gracious to use me with words again I would be honourable to them. The following Sunday graciously the Spirit spoke to me again, again it wasn’t a ‘nice’ word, it was a warning but I was ready to say it exactly as I was hearing it: “The Church would have to walk past a snarling dog but we must know it is chained. The dog is only barking it will not hurt us.”
The next morning I was recording that message through the PA system of the church. I felt I needed to keep it. Though I was on my own I was soon joined by the leader of the para-church organisation. With the sound of my voice going through the speakers I became embarrassed and went to turn it off, but the leader said for me to leave it on. So there we were, me and this man in the church on our own listening to a message about a snarling dog and the Church not to be afraid.
Within 3 months that man was taking me and the church to the Employment Tribunal. It became the worse 9 months of my life and I nearly ended my pastorate. We won the case but it was a very difficult season. We however walked past the snarling dog, there was much slander, but it was just noise and we survived. We went on to experience a further 13 years of tremendous church growth and amazing things that God did for people.
How did I get through this? How did I lead the church through this season? It was because of the original word that God gave me, even though I had changed it. The word actually wasn’t an evil to be rejected. God had told us it would end in divorce and it had. He then told us we could walk past the slander. The word prepared me and the church, we survived because of the word. I survived because of grace.
Sometimes our message from God isn’t all lovely and exciting and positive. It can be quite difficult to receive. It can look like an evil but it may be a warning. However, we must stay true to what He is telling us. Prophecy encourages, strengthens, comforts and edifies. But sometimes He wants to tell us about a famine to come.
So how do we know it is an evil to be rejected?
- Does it sound like the Word of God? Does it sound like Jesus?
- Do trusted ‘others’ receive it well?
- Does it tempt me away or bring me closer to Jesus?
- Does it love with a sacrificial love/agape?
- Did it come true (if it contains some prediction)?
Missions Paul 